1991-92 NHL season
The 1991-92 NHL season was the 75th regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Twenty-two teams each played 80 games. The season lasted from October 3, 1991 to June 1, 1992. The Stanley Cup winners were the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the best of seven series 4–0 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The championship was the second in a row for the Penguins. League Business The 1991-92 season was the 75th anniversary season for the NHL. Accordingly, all players wore a patch on their uniforms depicting the NHL 75th anniversary logo (seen at above right) for this season. This was the first season for the San Jose Sharks, the first expansion team in the NHL since the 1979-80 NHL season The birth of the Sharks returned NHL hockey to the San Francisco Bay Area after the California Golden Seals had relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1976. This was also the last season for John Ziegler as the NHL President. He would be succeeded by Gil Stein, who held the position for one year before being replaced by Gary Bettman. Regular season New York Rangers defenceman Brian Leetch became the fifth, and last as of 2009, defenceman to score 100 points in a season. He finished the season with 102 points and captured the Norris Trophy. The Rangers also ended the season with the NHL's best record since the 1941-42 season, the same year as the Toronto Maple Leafs' stanley cup comeback. For the first time, the NHL finished play in the month of June. A primary reason for this is the 10-day NHL strike that started on April 1st. The games that were supposed to be played during the strike (which was the first work-stoppage in NHL history) weren't canceled. They were rescheduled and made up when play resumed on April 12th. For the first time in his NHL career, Wayne Gretzky failed to finish in the top two in scoring. The Pittsburgh Penguins' Kevin Stevens became only the third person in NHL history to outscore Gretzky in the regular season (Marcel Dionne tied Gretzky in his rookie year, but had more goals and Mario Lemieux won the Art Ross Trophy over Gretzky in 1988 and 1989). Final standings Wales Conference Campbell Conference ''Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against'' Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Leading goaltenders Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average Stanley Cup playoffs ]] Note: All dates in 1992 Playoff bracket Division semi-finals Wales Conference | valign="top" | |- | valign="top" | | valign="top" | |} Campbell Conference | valign="top" | |- | valign="top" | | valign="top" | |} Division Finals | valign="top" | |} | valign="top" | |} Conference Finals | valign="top" | |} Finals NHL Awards Although not an award per se, the Buffalo Sabres set an NHL record for team penalty minutes, with 2713. All-Star teams Throwback Uniforms As part of the NHL's 75th anniversary celebration, throwback uniforms were worn by Original Six teams for select games and throwbacks were also worn for the All-Star Game. The uniform styles that were worn include: *Boston Bruins - circa 1933 *Chicago Blackhawks - circa 1940 *Detroit Red Wings - circa 1928 *Montreal Canadiens - circa 1926 *New York Rangers - circa 1940 *Toronto Maple Leafs - circa 1940 *Wales All-Stars - white All-Star jersey circa 1952 *Campbell All-Stars - red All-Star jersey circa 1952 The throwback uniforms would have an impact on future seasons in the NHL, as several teams adopted throwbacks as alternate jerseys. The National Football League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) would follow the NHL's lead, with teams wearing throwbacks to celebrate their leagues' 75th and 50th anniversaries, respectively. Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1991-92 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): *Glen Murray, Boston Bruins *Joe Juneau, Boston Bruins *Jozef Stumpel, Boston Bruins *Brad May, Buffalo Sabres *Keith Carney, Buffalo Sabres *Dean McAmmond, Chicago Blackhawks *Martin Lapointe, Detroit Red Wings *Vyacheslav Kozlov, Detroit Red Wings *Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings *Vladimir Konstantinov, Detroit Red Wings *Martin Rucinsky, Edmonton Oilers *Darryl Sydor, Los Angeles Kings *Derian Hatcher, Minnesota North Stars *Bill Guerin, New Jersey Devils *Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils *Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey Devils *Adam Foote, Quebec Nordiques *Valeri Kamensky, Quebec Nordiques *Arturs Irbe, San Jose Sharks *Pat Falloon, San Jose Sharks *Ray Whitney, San Jose Sharks *Bret Hedican, St. Louis Blues *Guy Hebert, St. Louis Blues *Felix Potvin, Toronto Maple Leafs *Pavel Bure, Vancouver Canucks *Steve Konowalchuk, Washington Capitals *Keith Tkachuk, Winnipeg Jets *Stu Barnes, Winnipeg Jets Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1991-92 (listed with their last team): *Barry Pederson, Boston Bruins *Rick Vaive, Buffalo Sabres *Tony Tanti, Buffalo Sabres *Clint Malarchuk, Buffalo Sabres *Greg Millen, Detroit Red Wings *Ilkka Sinisalo, Los Angeles Kings *Larry Robinson, Los Angeles Kings *Chris Nilan, Montreal Canadiens *Patrik Sundstrom, New Jersey Devils *Rick Green, New York Islanders *John Tonelli, Quebec Nordiques *Mark Pavelich, San Jose Sharks *Ken Linseman, Toronto Maple Leafs *Mike Bullard, Toronto Maple Leafs *Randy Gregg, Vancouver Canucks *Mike Liut, Washington Capitals *Mario Marois, Winnipeg Jets *Lucien DeBlois, Winnipeg Jets *Aaron Broten, Winnipeg Jets See also *List of Stanley Cup champions *1991 NHL Entry Draft *1991 NHL Dispersal and Expansion Drafts *43rd National Hockey League All-Star Game *National Hockey League All-Star Game *NHL All-Rookie Team References *Hockey Database *http://nhl.com/ Category:NHL seasons